Cody Updates by Mom

My fears of being able to jump back into work fully were quite positively unfounded.  I was able to get right back into work on day one and by the end of the week things were pretty much back to normal.  I am bless that I truly love my job and the people that I get to work with on a daily basis.  I am thrilled to be back at it.  I did get a little tired during the day but I was able to work through that pretty easily.

Unfortunately, the fear of having issues with eating at work were not unfounded.  Right away day one, I had an issue and a fairly major one.  I am learning a lot about food, actually meat in particular.  When meat is cooked fresh I tend to have less issues with it getting stuck.  However, when meat is reheated, it seems to clump together more and I tend to have issues.  I had successfully eaten ground Italian sausage with cottage and ricotta cheese and sauce on Tuesday at home.  On Wednesday at work I had a significant issue with the same meal reheated.  Luckily the tips that the PA gave me regarding using carbonated drinks to help the throwing up process worked.  When something is stuck and I drink pop, it will get to the stuck spot and start to really fizz up.  This is very good at creating a situation that will help me to more violently retch to release the food.  The bad part is that it hurts very much.  A coworker asked how much and my response was it was either coming up or I was going to die.  I know that is extreme and a fairly large exaggeration but it really is quite painful.

My issues have unfortunately followed me home too.  I have had a lot of issues this week with eating period.  I had a significant issue with hamburger last night that was not resolved until late this morning.  It was fresh so it wasn’t that but I am thinking that with all my issues I may have aggravated the connection and have caused it to be swollen more.  There is also the added pressure of eating normal so others do not ask if I am okay, or have to wait for me to finish.  I know that I need to eat slower than others but it is a situation that I will need to spend a lot more time sitting than anyone else.  This is making going out for dinner to be more and more of a problem.  I am trying not to get too frustrated or discouraged but it is becoming hard not to.

So, I am dialing my diet back even more.  I am not sure for how long but meat will have to be introduced as more of a pureed form at this time.  Making this change will make eating less of an ordeal but it will make nutrition more of an issue.  I will drop weight again fairly quick with the change in the diet.  I am already down one pound just from yesterday with having an issue with something stuck for a long period of time.  My plan right now is to do this for the next week and get through my surgery on Friday before trying solid meat again.

They kept reminding me when I was down at Mayo that this is really a two year process for me to get back to normal.  I need to be patient and take things slow.  Patience has not always been easy for me and I continue to struggle as it is tested regularly.

Change of topic.

April 3rd is a really big day for me.  A year ago on April 3rd I had a double mastectomy that removed a very large cancer tumor from my left side.  Even though they removed all of the cancer the size of the tumor is why I went through chemo and radiation.  So, April 3rd, 2015, is my one year anniversary of being cancer free.  Yay!!!  Well, there is something cool about this day.  Some of you are aware that Jim and I are a part of a Lynyrd Skynyrd tribute band that plays mostly during the summer.  Well our first gig of the season is going to be April 3rd and it is in town (well, kind of).  We are playing for the grand opening of a new place in Otsego, MN.  For those of you that do not know, Otsego is up Hwy 94 to Rogers, MN and then north of there.  The place is called The Igloo.  I know that April 3rd is Good Friday but what a great testament to this day than celebrating with me at The Igloo.  The show starts at 7 with Monny Ray and the triple threat and we go on around 9.  April 3rd is my day to show cancer that it couldn’t beat me.  I won!  Let’s celebrate!!!!  Hope to see you there.  🙂

Caring Bridge Comments

Joan Gilmore|Mar 16, 2015 8:14am
WOO HOO!!!! Congrats on your upcoming anniversary and may all good things keep coming your way!